Where Are the Most Mcmansions for Higher Appraisal Fees

Excerpt: You know them when you see them.

The imposing, ostentatious structures looming over surprisingly wee plots of land. The crazily mismatched architectural styles. The hipped roofs, gabled roofs, and pyramidal roofs-all on the same house! The bank columns. The front yard Romanesque fountains. The puzzling profusion of window sizes and types. The gigantic, two-story front doors.

Click here for more info and where there are lots of them:

Excerpt: What a nightmare.

The owners of the “American Horror Story” house in Olympic Park have sued the brokers who negotiated the $3.2 million deal and the former owner for failing to disclose its connection to the FX show.

Since the couple purchased the home in 2015, it has become a “macabre tourist attraction” for fans of the horror show who “trespass, attempt to break in, and [create] a significant nuisance,” according to the lawsuit.

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Many thanks to Isaac Peck of Workingre for letting me know about this error

U.S. regulators ready to ease requirements for commercial appraisals – changes from over $250,000 to $500,000

Coalition sends letter opposing commercial change

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Appraisal waivers – residential rural properties

Excerpt: This bill, if signed into law, will allow lenders to bypass appraisals for any property with a ‘transaction value’ of $400,000 or less (this is moving the de minimus goal post) if the lender was unable to find an available appraiser to complete an appraisal “within a reasonable amount of time”… that time frame apparently as determined by a regulator agency with jurisdiction over the lender. The bill shows ‘exceptions’ to this as per other laws.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 21, 2018) – Mortgage applications decreased 6.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 16, 2018.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 7 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 6 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 3 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to its lowest level since July 2017, 44.4 percent of total applications, from 46.5 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.4 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 9.9 percent from 10.1 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.0 percent from 10.1 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.8 percent from the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) increased to its highest level since January 2014, 4.64 percent, from 4.57 percent, with points increasing to 0.61 from 0.59 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $453,100) increased to its highest level since January 2014, 4.62 percent, from 4.55 percent, with points increasing to 0.50 from 0.47 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to its highest level since April 2011, 4.58 percent, from 4.54 percent, with points decreasing to 0.71 from 0.73 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to its highest level since April 2011, 4.02 percent, from 4.00 percent, with points increasing to 0.66 from 0.65 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.72 percent from 3.74 percent, with points increasing to 0.39 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

If you would like to purchase a subscription of MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey, please visitmba.org/WeeklyApps, contact mbaresearch@mba.org or click here.

The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.